Moray’s MSP attended an update meeting on the major incident at ARI, announced by NHS Grampian on Thursday 28th November, when bed capacity at the hospital became overwhelmed.
This resulted in non-critical ambulances being diverted to Ninewells in Dundee or Raigmore in Inverness.
Commenting Mr. Lochhead said:
“The situation is clearly worrying for people from Moray, especially given that they already have some distance to travel to get to ARI.
“The public should be aware, however, that if you are assessed as having a life-threatening emergency, you will not be redirected and you will be admitted to ARI.
“The situation is far from ideal but, as the hospital had reached full capacity and queues of ambulances were beginning to build up, it was felt necessary to take emergency action and divert ambulances to other hospitals.
“This and other measures have resulted in improvement and NHS management hope that things will be back to normal at ARI within a week.
“Anyone who had a procedure cancelled in order to give some extra bed space will remain at the top of the waiting list and appointments will be rescheduled very soon.
“The Cabinet Secretary for Health also attended the meeting today and promised support from the Scottish Government.
“I will be seeking a meeting with him to discuss the urgent need to review bed capacity at ARI and support Grampian NHS to ensure that the number of hospital beds is increased across the whole of the North East, so that major incidents like this become less likely.”
